Welcome to the WoES PTA Website!
The goal of this site is to provide all parents and caregivers of the children attending Worthington Elementary School, up-to-date information on events and activities associated with the PTA and our school.
SCHOOL NEWS  NEW SCHOOL HOURS: WoES new school hours for all students both in-person and at home in the virtual setting will be 9:45 AM to 4:15 PM. The new school schedule will take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for all students; Asynchronous Wednesdays. Group E students will have in-person instruction on Wednesday mornings.Please see the NEW WoES Hybrid schedules for all students effective as of March 1st: Students not opting to come into school are called Group V (virtual) NEW GUIDELINES: For health and safety all visitors must wear a mask when entering the vestibule/school area. All social distancing guidelines must be followed. When entering the building if you see a family in the vestibule, we ask that you please remain outside until the vestibule is clear. Early/Late Procedures: Use the Buzzer to call into the Front Office to let the secretaries know that your student has arrived or needs to leave early. Please use a clean pen to sign your student in on the Late Arrival Sheet. Once you have finished we ask that you place the pen in the “USED” container provided. Hand Sanitizer has been provided for you.  What does it look like to "adopt" a staff member for Staff Appreciation Week? * Your child/ren will create a poster for the staff member recognizing his/her hard work and dedication. Your child/ren can be as creative as possible with the poster. Some ideas include: drawings or pictures that displays his/her likes, favorites, words to describe, preferred colors, something related to the subject that staff member teaches (or something related to their job)- the options are endless and great inspiration can be found on Pinterest.com. The poster should be no larger than 22x28 poster board and will be displayed either on the door or desk of the staff member. Please do not have your child sign his/her name on the front of the poster. * Posters should be dropped off to Jen Sellers's porch (4514 Vinter Way) by Wednesday, April 28th. They will be affixed to classroom doors by Monday morning for all staff to enjoy when they arrive at school. * IF your child's first choice of staff member has already been "adopted", please consider another staff member in the school. Think about teachers from previous years or other staff your child might see throughout the day. SIGN UP: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f45aaad2aa5fe3-woes3 THANK YOU for your support and dedication to the staff at Worthington!  To upload your photo (s), use the link below and follow instructions at top: http://www.ssiyearbooks.com/101341wes/home3/PhotoPost.jsp?ID=L2R4PXCSQQKF.  Payment: Complete the below google form AND pay via PayPal or Credit Card (using the link below). **Please make sure in the notes section you write 5th Grade T-shirt so the funds can be easily identified and properly sorted. ORDERS ARE DUE BY: April 21, 2021 Order HERE. If you have any questions please contact Francesca Graham 410-259-7219 or fterrano3@gmail.com. 5th GRADE CELEBRATION ORGANIZER (S) NEEDED: Looking for one or several individuals, committed to planning and implementing the events celebrating 5th grade graduation. The kids (and parents) love how these events cap off their time at WoES. The PTA has supported these events financially and logistically and is proud to do so, but we need some people to take the reins on this, ideally from a family where they themselves have a 5th grader graduating. Also, we don’t have an individual organizing the 5th grade simulated congressional hearings. Honestly I don’t know what the hybrid school situation means for whether or not the simulated congressional hearings can happen (they didn’t last year), but now is the time to start thinking about it. Interested? Please email John Gallagher at worthingtonptapresident@gmail.com.   CONTACTLESS MEDIA CENTER: The Media Center offers Contactless Circulation. All details can be found in this Google Form Link. If you still have a Media Book at home, you may drop it off at school. The book bin will now be right inside the front door (in the vestibule) from 8-4pm everyday.  Reading recommendations from Mrs. Howe to the left... Share your favorites: Have a favorite book, art project, recipe, or craft idea? We would love to showcase it in the PTA newsletter. Please let us know what you would like to share. Email worthingtonptapresident@gmail.com   FREE & REDUCED MEALS PROGRAM: HCPSS will provide meals at NO COST to any HCPSS student and all children under 18 through the entire school year, assuming continued availability of USDA funding. Click here to learn more or to apply. NOTE: The free Grab-N-Go summer meals program has been extended through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. COMMUNITY NEWS SCHOOL GROUNDS: With the return of Hybrid in-person instruction, our school has students and staff between the hours of 8:50 AM - 4:30 PM Monday - Friday. Visitors are not permitted to use school grounds during these hours. Recently, we’ve noticed older students and community members accessing our blacktop, fields, playground equipment, parking lot, etc. during our school hours. Please spread the word in the community for the safety and security of our students and staff, visitors are not permitted to use school grounds during the school day. HCPSS COMMUNITY NEWS & PROGRAMS: For more information on community resources, programs, and other news, visit https://community-programs.hcpss.org/ |  Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 13th 6:30PM-7:30PM Location: Zoom Meeting AGENDA: Meeting agenda is posted via Google Doc. ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550825177?pwd=dTd3MURrWmMwNzIwaEMwdVJYYWdsZz09 Time: 6:30 PM Meeting ID: 835 5082 5177 Passcode: woespta Dial by your location...+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) Meeting ID: 835 5082 5177 Passcode: 5960519 [remember: you can use your child’s chromebook if you “join with browser”]  and during distance learning. Teachers will design engaging lessons and activities, both for virtual live classes and online assignments. Regular participation is essential for student growth, and students are expected to engage in learning activities every week. Student attendance for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday instruction will occur as follows ● At the elementary level, both the Homeroom teacher and Mathematics teacher will take attendance, noting whether students were present online for synchronous instruction. ● Daily attendance will be based on teacher-recorded attendance for the entire school day. ● If there is a technical difficulty, a student may submit asynchronous work for a particular day to receive credit for attendance. Student attendance for Wednesday instruction will occur as follows: ● A student will be counted as present if they do one or more of the following since the previous Wednesday:
If your child is absent, please send a note explaining the absence to this email address: WOESABSENCE@hcpss.org. All absences will be considered unexcused without a note/email explanation. Please contact Iris Feinberg at iris_feinberg@hcpss.org or Donna Thorn at donna_thorn@hcpss.org if you have any questions.  As we continue our transition to hybrid learning, it is essential to ensure students are healthy enough to attend in-person instruction. Parents/guardians are to perform a symptom check every day before the student leaves home. A student having any of the following symptoms should not be sent to school and may continue to access their classrooms virtually, if they are well enough to do so:
Please contact the WoES health room at 410-313-2575 with any questions or concerns and remember to update the health room with your student's health conditions. We are here for you and committed to keeping the Worthington community safe!
IMMUNIZATION NOTICE: You may have received a letter or phone call from the health room regarding your child's immunizations. The HoCo Health Department is holding immunization clinics for students who do not have insurance or have Medical Assistance. The clinics are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays and are free of cost. You can make an appointment by calling 410-313-7500. When school resumes, children who have missing vaccines will not be able to attend school until they are up to date with their vaccines. An email will be sent next week to parents of students still requiring immunizations. Please contact Suzanne Wingard RN, school nurse, with any questions. Email: suzanne_wingard@hcpss.org PTA NEWS  HCPSS NEWS 2020/2021 SCHOOL CALENDAR: Please ensure you have the latest calendar updates. The 2020-2021 school calendar was modified. Spring break will be shortened to April 2–6, 2021, and the last scheduled day of school is June 15, 2021 with possible inclement weather days after that date. HCPSS SCHOOL MESSENGER/CANVAS/SYNERGY REPORTING FORMS: If you are having issues receiving HCPSS district/school emails and/or text messaging please use this new form for reporting your issues regarding emails/text messages not being delivered. If you are experiencing issues with Canvas/Synergy messages, please complete this form. SCHOOL DIRECTORY INFORMATION: Parents/guardians who have completed their Family File can now access their school directory in HCPSS Connect. The directory will display only the information that parents select when completing Family File. The directory will update daily as families complete Family File or change their information. To access the directory for your school, log in to HCPSS Connect and select Family File/School Directory in the left menu, and then School Directory. Information in the directory is for personal use only and may not be distributed, sold or shared in any way. Parents who do not wish to be included in the directory should update their Family File permissions. REPORT CARDS: HCPSS has a new-style learning behavior report card. Furthermore, HCPSS has aligned the elementary interim progress report for first quarter and students and parents will see the new learning behaviors on progress reports as well as report cards. Please refer to this website while reading the progress report and/or report card: https://www.hcpss.org/academics/learning-behaviors/ FAMILY FILES: It is important that we have up-to-date emergency contact information for each student , in the event that our staff need to communicate directly with our families. You can access the Family File by logging in to the HCPSS Connect at www.hcpss.org/connect/. YOU SHOP, AMAZON GIVES!    LOCAL BUSINESSES Do you own or work for a local business? The Worthington Elementary School PTA would like to work with you to promote your business while assisting us with the many fun events we host throughout the year. Contact worthingtonptapresident@gmail.com for more details. WORTHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 4570 Roundhill Road Ellicott City, MD 21043 Phone: (410) 313-2825 Fax: (410) 313-2829  BE IN THE KNOW! Stay up-to-date on activities and events and stay connected. STAY CONNECTED   |